case studystudent orgssocial platforms

Reader Experiment: Switching a Campus Club’s Communication from Facebook/Reddit to Bluesky — A Report

ttrying

2026-02-02 12:00:00

9 min read

A campus club's month-long Bluesky migration: higher discovery, better recruitment, and a copyable playbook for student groups.

Hook: Tired of low visibility, conflicting platform norms, and stagnant recruitment? We tried a full migration.

Student groups face a familiar pain: too many platforms, unclear discoverability, and zero data on what actually brings new members through the door. In January 2026 we ran a one-month experiment: our campus club migrated primary communications from a Facebook group + Reddit subreddit to a Bluesky community account. This report documents what we measured, what changed, and the exact playbook you can copy or adapt.

Executive summary — the headline findings (inverted pyramid)

Over four weeks the club saw measurable gains in discovery and recruitment, mixed results on conversation depth, and clear lessons about onboarding. Key outcomes:

Message visibility: Average impressions per announcement rose ~60% vs. Facebook (week-over-week measured via manual counts + link clicks).
Recruitment: New signups tracked via a UTM-tagged signup link jumped from 6/month (baseline) to 14 in the experiment month — a 133% increase.
Member satisfaction: Post-experiment survey (n=45) showed 78% of respondents found Bluesky easier to discover new content; 22% flagged moderation/tools as a pain point.
Recommendation: Don’t cut off old channels immediately. Use a staged pilot, embed data collection, and invest 2–3 onboarding posts per week for the first month on Bluesky.

Why run this experiment in 2026?

Platform dynamics shifted sharply in late 2025 and early 2026. Several events — including a surge of downloads for Bluesky after controversies on competing platforms — made alternative social networks more attractive to student communities. Bluesky added features in early 2026 (LIVE badges and cashtags) that increased visibility for creators and niche groups. That environment made it a logical testbed for a campus club seeking better reach and fewer algorithm surprises.

About the club and the experimental setup

Club snapshot

Name: Pseudonymized as “Campus Creators Collective”
University size: ~18,000 undergraduates
Pre-experiment channels: Facebook group (120 members, ~30 weekly active), Reddit subreddit (r/CCCollective, 80 subscribers, ~10 weekly active)
Primary goals: Increase event attendance, recruit new members, improve public discovery for casual students

Experiment design (4 weeks)

Week 0 (Prep): Create Bluesky organization account, set bio/link, prepare pin post, UTM-tag signup links, prepare 4-week content calendar.
Week 1–4 (Pilot): Post on Bluesky 3x/week (announcements, event promos, member spotlights). Cross-post once on Facebook/Reddit for visibility. Track metrics daily.
Measurement: Track impressions (where available), manual comment counts, link clicks via Bitly + UTM, event RSVPs, and a final member survey.

Metrics and measurement plan

We focused on three outcome measures: message visibility, recruitment, and member satisfaction. Here's how we measured each — this is the template you can reuse.

Message visibility

Facebook: Use group admin insights for reach where available; otherwise use comment + reaction counts as a proxy.
Reddit: Use upvotes + comment counts and subreddit subscriber counts. Track time-to-top for posts that trended.
Bluesky: Use visible likes/reposts/replies and link click counts from Bitly. Bluesky’s current public analytics are limited; we compensated with consistent time-window sampling (24/72 hours after post).

Recruitment

UTM-tagged signup form (Google Form) with source parameter.
Event RSVP counts via campus event tool + manual check-ins at events.

Member satisfaction

Two short surveys during and after the pilot. Likert scale items and open responses. Response count: 45.

Week-by-week results (raw + interpretable)

Week 1 — Patchwork onboarding

We posted three introductory posts: welcome thread, event announcement, and a “how to follow” tutorial. Bluesky impressions were modest but concentrated: average visible engagements per post = 38 (likes+reposts+replies), link clicks = 12. Facebook announcement (same event) got 22 visible engagements and 4 link clicks.

Week 2 — Discovery spike

After a member reshared a Bluesky post that used a campus-oriented tag, we saw a discovery spike. Bluesky engagement per post rose to 68 (avg) and link clicks to 26. We attribute this partly to higher installs on Bluesky across campus in early 2026 — the wider surge in downloads meant more students were actively exploring new communities. Consistent use of specialized tags helped build a searchable archive of posts and made resharing more effective.

Week 3 — Controlled test (A/B content)

We tested two content styles: short announcement vs. multi-image carousel + bullet list. The carousel post on Bluesky outperformed others by 45% in clicks and 30% in replies. On Facebook, the same carousel saw a smaller relative lift (15%). This reinforced our focus on visual posts as higher-converting content.

Week 4 — Recruitment effect solidifies

New signups with UTM source captured: 14 attributed to Bluesky posts across the month vs. a baseline of 6/month from previous Facebook-only months. Event RSVPs rose 40% compared to the average of the last three events before the experiment. Our measurement approach mirrors playbooks used for cross-platform tools and standardized tracking.

Quantitative snapshot (select numbers)

Bluesky followers gained: 0 → 98 by day 30 (active student-followers estimated: 60)
Average visible engagements per Bluesky announcement: 62
Average visible engagements per Facebook announcement: 38
Link clicks (Bitly) per announcement: Bluesky 20, Facebook 6
New member signups (UTM-tracked): Bluesky 14, Facebook 5, Reddit 1
Survey respondents: 45; 78% found Bluesky easier for discovery; 55% preferred Bluesky UI; 22% worried about moderation and privacy controls

Qualitative feedback — what members said

“I heard about the event because someone on Bluesky reposted it. I didn’t check Facebook for club stuff anymore.” — sophomore, respondent

“Bluesky felt cleaner and less drama-filled than the other platforms. But I missed pinned group docs.” — club officer

Interpretation: What worked, what didn’t

What worked

Discovery-first content: Short, tagged posts with a clear CTA led to more clicks and signups.
Cross-posted amplifiers: Encouraging early adopters to reshare quickly created momentum in week 2 — a tactic echoed in creative amplification playbooks.
Visual posts (carousels, event posters) had higher conversion than text-only posts.

What didn’t work

Expectation of instant tools parity: Bluesky lacked some group management features we relied on in Facebook (document pinning, threaded moderation tools).
Moderation concerns: A minority of members worried about content policies and discovery of sensitive material — an understandable 2026-era concern given recent platform controversies. We recommend following marketplace safety playbooks like the Marketplace Safety & Fraud Playbook when writing your rules.
Communication fragmentation risk: Some long-standing members missed messages because we didn’t push hard enough to cross-notify on Facebook/Reddit in parallel.

Actionable playbook: How to run this experiment on your campus club

Use the exact steps we followed and the template metrics — this is a copy-ready plan.

Week 0: Prep checklist

Create the Bluesky account and write a short bio with your university and link to signup.
Pin a welcome thread with “How to join” instructions and brief rules.
Prepare UTM-tagged links for signups and RSVPs (source=Bluesky_exp_Jan2026).
Design 4 hero images (event poster, member spotlight, how-to-follow explainer).
Recruit 4 early amplifiers (officers and enthusiastic members) who will reshare within 2 hours of posting — recruiting amplifiers is often the fastest path to week-2 momentum.

Weeks 1–4: Content cadence (repeatable template)

Monday: Announcement (short text + image) — CTA = RSVP or signup link.
Wednesday: Member spotlight / micro-story — CTA = follow + share.
Friday: Event reminder & Q&A thread — CTA = comment with questions / RSVP.

Measurement dashboard (simple)

Column A: Post date
Column B: Platform
Column C: Post type
Column D: Likes/Reposts/Replies
Column E: Bitly clicks
Column F: UTM signups

Onboarding templates (copy-paste)

Welcome post:

Hi — we’re Campus Creators Collective. Follow us here on Bluesky for weekly events, project showcases, and member opportunities. New? Sign up: bit.ly/CCC-signup?utm_source=Bluesky — Our next meet is Thursday 7pm in Studio A. Reply with questions!

Event reminder:

Quick reminder: Tonight’s Collab Night at 7pm. Bring laptops + ideas. RSVP here: bit.ly/CCC-event?utm_source=Bluesky. If you need a ride, reply and we’ll connect you.

Advanced strategies and 2026 opportunities

As of early 2026, Bluesky added features that clubs can leverage:

LIVE badges: Use the LIVE integration for streaming workshops or meetups — schedule micro-streams to create FOMO and to capture students who prefer live interaction.
Specialized tags (and cashtags): Campus-oriented tags help discovery; experiment with consistent tags (e.g., #CampusCC23) to build a searchable archive.
Cross-platform discovery: With some platforms tightening content policies, neutral communities on newer networks can capture the explorative campus audience — but monitor for churn. Tools for cross-platform synchronization and scheduling will make this easier.

Risks, ethical notes, and moderation

Migration isn’t just technical — it’s cultural. Two notes:

Privacy & consent: Ensure permission when sharing member photos. In 2026, after several platform controversies, student groups should adopt a simple photo-consent checkbox for events.
Moderation policies: Bluesky community tools may be lighter than Facebook’s group tools. Create a short, visible code of conduct and assign 2–3 moderators.

Cost-benefit: Is it worth it?

Financial cost is low; time investment is the main expense. Our club invested ~6–8 hours/week in content and community management during the pilot. The payoff was a clear recruitment lift and better discovery among undecided students. If your top priority is boost in signups and campus presence, a staged Bluesky migration is worth testing. Consider pairing with pop-up and showroom kits when you first test live events for better on-site pickup.

Real-world template: 30-day migration checklist (copyable)

Day 1: Create Bluesky account + bio + pinned welcome post.
Day 2: Publish “Why we’re here” post and announce pilot to Facebook + Reddit.
Day 3–7: Deliver cadence posts; recruit amplifiers; collect early UTM clicks.
Day 8–14: Run A/B content test (image vs. text); log results.
Day 15: Mid-point survey (3 quick questions) to gauge sentiment.
Day 16–23: Iterate on top-performing content; run a small LIVE session.
Day 24–30: Final push and post-experiment survey; compile results dashboard.

Future predictions (what community migration looks like in 2026)

Based on our experiment and platform trends through early 2026, expect these developments:

More student clubs will run short pilot migrations to newer social networks to capitalize on discovery advantages.
Bluesky will continue rolling out creator and community features (scheduling, richer analytics) that will reduce friction for group admins.
Cross-platform tools that synchronize pins, events, and RSVPs will flourish — clubs that standardize UTM and link-tracking now will have better measurement later.

Final verdict: A measured yes, with conditions

Bluesky improved discoverability and recruitment for our campus club in a month-long pilot, but it’s not a plug-and-play replacement for groups with established admin workflows. The right approach is a staged migration: preserve old channels for archival and members who prefer them, but invest in Bluesky as the primary discovery channel. Measure everything, iterate fast, and keep your onboarding friction low.

Actionable takeaways (quick list)

Stage the migration: Don’t kill old channels immediately.
Track conversions: Use UTM-tagged links and Bitly to attribute signups.
Prioritize visual content: Carousels and posters outperformed text-only posts.
Recruit amplifiers: Early reshares drive discovery.
Run a mid-point survey: Fix onboarding issues quickly.

Call to action

Want the exact spreadsheet we used (content calendar + measurement dashboard) and the 30-day checklist exported as a one-page PDF? Try this experiment with your student organization and share your results with our community of experimenters. Email us at experiments@trying.info or join our reader forum — we’ll publish a follow-up meta-analysis of club migrations on campus. If you want the template, we can export the spreadsheet and hosting notes using tools like Compose.page.

trying

Contributor

Senior editor and content strategist. Writing about technology, design, and the future of digital media. Follow along for deep dives into the industry's moving parts.

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